HR IN PUBLIC SECTOR BANKING

I have been working in a public sector bank for more than 5 quarters now and have been impressed by the way the bank conducts its operations- be it retail, compliance or HR.

Of course, compliance works effectively because banking is so highly regulated, RBI guidelines are sacrosanct.  Our bank takes care of business by launching various incentive based campaigns for employees and by being absolutely focused on customer service.

What stands out the most in a public sector unit is the thoroughness of its HR policy and the way the HR team functions. HR in a PSU somehow defies all the generic stereotypical opinions about this indispensable function.

Staring with recruitment, what is the general reaction by operations if a recently hired employee doesn’t perform upto the standards? Generally, it is “HR did not send us good CVs”, “HR was the one to hire this person who turned out to be like this”, “We do not believe in central recruitment”, “HR has all the power, we don’t have any say in recruitment decisions”.  On the contrary, there are no such reactions in the case of the biggest recruitment drive of the country. SBI received a humongous 17 lac candidate applications for PO 2013 exam. Such hugeness and organisation in conduct of exam and interviews for the purpose of recruitment for a job is unparalleled. The central recruitment cell of the bank does all that needs to be done by them. Their role is well defined. The screening is national level, completely transparent and performance standards clearly defined leaving little room for blame game.  The management has its own ways of dealing with non-performers and of course there is a feedback for the screening process, but there is no apathy towards the recruitment team.

One of the reasons of thoroughness in the organizational structure in PSUs is that HR manuals are not a copy paste work by some fancy HR consultancies; rather they are based on traditional management principles. Any deviations from the laid down HR policies are to be approved by senior management.  Does it sound bureaucratic? Maybe. Does it affect efficiency? I don’t think so. When staff welfare policies are in place, management takes quick decisions and business is driven by incentive schemes, employees remain motivated and keep bringing in more business. Again, the staff welfare policies that play a big role in employee retention in our bank, are very well defined in our HR manual.

When we talk about training, we think “oh a break and free food in a swanky hotel !” That’s not what training is about in a bank. When training is about fake currency detection, loans processing and knowing what kind of frauds take place in banking and what to do to avoid them, it is seen as absolutely essential to the functioning of the business, for the staff to carry on with their work and not as a ‘timepass’.

Unlike in some other industries, there is no need to stress on the fact that people are assets. Business per employee is a common performance parameter in banks and is in millions for the industry. There is no debate on HR being seen as a cost centre, just like any other department it does its work, there is no hoopla around what it does and how efficiently it does it, the HR staff doesn’t have to constantly defend itself and give justification for its existence in the organization.

I could go on about the role of HR in transfers, our very well implemented HRMS etc., but lets just keep it short and hope to learn more from HR implementation in PSUs, especially banks !